the blog of LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange

Citizen dialog for transparent process

Monday, 17 December 2012

West Point aiming for net zero energy use

U.S. Army is serious about solar, installing solar panels as a
"very visible and a very recognizable part of
our renewable energy initiative that can immediately click with the
general public"
as it makes its military academy net zero, while
encouraging cadets to become renewable energy leaders.
Hm, sounds like
Decatur County with its solar industrial park
and what we could do here with
solar Lowndes High.

The installation of solar panels on the roof of the Lichtenberg
Tennis Center—780 panels, to be exact—in recent weeks
represents West Point's continuing efforts to achieve energy
sustainability.

Since becoming a Net Zero Energy pilot installation last April, West
Point has been making strides toward the ultimate goal of producing
as much energy as it uses by 2020. According to an environmental
assessment for the U.S. Army Environmental Command and West Point
Garrison, the installation currently generates less than .02 percent
of the energy it consumes from renewable sources. Matt Talaber,
Department of Public Works engineer and director, said the solar
panels will be a step in the right direction.

"The solar panels are very visible and a very recognizable part of
our renewable energy initiative that can immediately click with the
general public," Talaber said. "It's a positive image that shows
West Point is interested in renewable energy and is working on its
Net Zero energy goals."

And they're also improving conservation and efficiency.
Plus this:

"When we renovate now we are much more sensitive to energy standards
and new energy codes," Talaber said. "But because we are Net Zero
we've tried to go above and beyond the simple things like glazing of
windows and building insulation. Part of our Energy Savings
Performance contract, the first one we had, the company is
conducting work on behavioral change and getting the message out
about conservation."

"So the good news is we share the world's challenges with energy,
which means we have opportunities for partnerships to solve it,"
Webber said. "The difference being, we consume a fifth of the
world's energy even though we're three percent of the world's
population."

If the bad news is the U.S. consumes 20 percent of the world's
energy, what's worse is we generate 20 percent of greenhouse gas
emissions and 20 percent of the world's trash.

Webber offered his best guess on future trends and shifts in energy.
He said energy will get smarter, cleaner and it will be self-fueled
for transportation. What it will take to get there is energy
efficiency, conservation, reducing waste, better markets and policy
and fuel switching.

I think he's far too willing to treat the environment as something
to trade off, and he's not really recognizing how fast Moore's Law
will increase solar deployments,
but at least he's trying to get cadets to think seriously
about the problems.

"We really need you. We need new energy leadership. The way I see
it, this is your generation's Cold War," Webber said. "It's going to
take decades to solve this, but in 30 years, 40 years, we're going
to look back and say, 'Those cadets did it. They figured it out for
us.' That's what we need from you, and I hope you take the call to
rise to the challenge."

Go Army cadets!
And they're not the only ones who can get on with figuring it out
and doing something about it.
We can, too.